This Meant War
by Echobaby123
Summary: Lief and Jasmine get on the wrong foot, a seriously wrong foot... another high school story, BUT DIFFERENT! and if you don't believe me, then check it out yourself :) rated T just to be safe
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everybody, Echobaby123 is back! With my second fanfic, which i have been wanting to do for ages. I know people, its another cliche highschool story, but its different i swear! I've also put a lot of thought into the plot and everything, because i didn't do that with charms XD which is another dq fanfic of mine, that is about to come to an end! so if you want to check that one out too, then go ahead. Any reviews would be completley an absolutley amazing, and will benefit my writing soooo much! Also, i tend to write more if i get reviews ;) but anyway, hope you guys like this chapter, i myself am quite impressed by it ( thats like someone laughing at their own joke) XD Now, onto the story...**

Jasmine looked around the park. It was almost empty except for a toddler that was playing on a yellow plastic slide. She watched him glide down squealing, landing in the grip of his mother's arms, on the far side of the area. She swung her legs idly, digging her toes into the brown sand. Her curly black hair fell into her eyes and she brushed the strands back with her hand, readjusting the sparkly green clip. She sighed. Jasmine couldn't believe she was really gone. She envied the little boy that was now plodding round to the back of the slide, eager for another turn, his mother watching him with smiling eyes. It wasn't fair. She was only six, barely seven. She grasped the metal chains, twisting them in her hands. Why did she have to leave us?

Jasmine was interrupted in her thinking by the sight of a small boy, about her age, walking across the street towards the play area. Her daring green eyes watched with curiosity as he picked up a stick, and began swinging it around like a sword. She tossed her head to the side and huffed. Boys, all they cared about was fighting. Yet, there was something in his determined blue eyes that she liked about him. How he concentrated so hard at jumping around, slashing his stick at the air, like it wasn't just a game.

She looked down at her scarred knees; a recent scratch was still bright red, from when her leg got caught on a spiky branch when she was climbing. He eyes fell on the object in her hands. It was a small wooden bird, carved from green-washed oak. The bird was a raven, with a jewelled eye and it was her mother's.

Nostalgia washed over her and she held back a sob.

"What's that?"

Jasmine looked up to find the boy with the stick standing in front of her, his black messy hair sticking up in different directions. His eyes were wide and he was staring at the little wooden figure in her lap. She quickly clasped it in her hands and pulled it close to her body.

"It's nothing. Go away." She said bluntly, staring icily at the boy.

His expression dropped, "What's the matter?" he asked.

Jasmine crossed her arms and looked away, "I don't want to talk about it." She just wanted him to leave her. Why wouldn't he do that?

"Why? Did something bad happe-,"

"I SAID, I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT!"

Jasmine stood up from the swing, it rattled behind her, the metal chains clinking.

The boy stumbled back with shock. Then he steadied himself and glared at her.

"Girls are so weird," the boy said and walked off.

Jasmine let out a breath and slid to the ground. Her eyes began to water-up, but she blinked rapidly till the tears disappeared. She did not cry. Why did that boy have to bother her? Why did he care? And why did he think she'd share something like that to _him? _These questions made her blood boil

"Lief!" someone yelled, "we're going now!"

Jasmine turned her head to see the boy hurry across the bark-covered floor over to a brown-haired woman with a big smile. She took his hand and they walked back across the street.

Huh, Jasmine thought, _Lief_. She hit the ground with her closed fist.

I hate him.

/

_"That one!" she squealed. Her mum picked her up underneath her arms and raised her so she could grab the cereal box on the highest shelf. _

_"Got it?" he mother laughed and Jasmine grinned, nodding her head enthusiastically. Her mum put her down. Jasmine hugged the box, her little arms wrapped around the lucky charms box. Her mum ruffled her hair and she scrunched her face up at her, frowning. She did this for as long as possible, which wasn't very long, and then broke into a fit of giggles. She loved grocery shopping with her mum. It was one of the best memories she had of her…_

Let's just say, that shopping wasn't like it used to be. Jasmine looked across the aisles. Everyone looked grumpy, as if they didn't want to be here, which was most likely the case. She huffed and stalked down the aisle, avoiding annoyed house-wives with filled to the brim shopping trolleys and trendy young adults, carrying grocery baskets in their hands. She side-stepped as one of the workers pushed a cart of cans ready to be stacked, straight down the middle of the aisle. Everything was so gloomy and the people here were just trying to get their shopping done as fast as possible. Grocery shops were now officially the definition of depressing for Jasmine.

Her dad had just sent her to pick a cereal for breakfast as when it came to food, Jasmine was admittedly, very picky. She found the breakfast aisle, and walked over to the other side, where on each wall towered thousands of different cereal boxes. She looked for the red swirly box with big yellow letters, the funny elf man coming out of the big pot, wearing green clothes and a hat. She found it, but there was only one, sitting alone on the middle shelf. She fast-walked towards it, reaching her hands out to grab it off the shelf. Yes! Jasmine grasped the last Lucky Charms box with her hand,

just as someone else's did.

She looked up and narrowed her eyes.

"You!"

Lief frowned, his eyebrows scrunching up, he tugged the box slightly towards him, "I got her first! It's _mine."  
_Jasmine gripped the box tighter, and pulled towards her, harsher then he had, "No, I got here first, Let. Go."

"No!" He shouted angrily. The other two people in the aisle looked up from what they were doing, peering at the two small children.

"It's just cereal!" Jasmine argued.

"Then let go!" he replied.

"NEVER!" She shouted stubbornly.

They began pulling at the box, Lief's hands clasped around one side, and Jasmine's on the other.

"You're so weird!" She shouted.

"IM WEIRD?" He glared back, not losing his grip for a second. They began yelling at each other nonstop, getting louder and louder, both still tugging at the cereal. Their faces were red from screaming and Jasmine was trying not to collapse.

"JUST GIVE _ME_ THE CEREAL!"

"NO, GIVE ME THE CEREAL"

"DAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDD!"

There was a sudden rip as the box sprayed open, marshmallows flying everywhere and the two were thrown back, tumbling to the ground.

Two men came round the corner, breathing sharply. They glared down at their two children who were on the ground now, covered in bits of rainbow coloured 'o's. Jasmine shrunk and lowered her head. She removed a yellow star-shaped marshmallow from her hair and looked at her daddy's face. His eyes were bloodshot and there were dark circles under his eyes. Although he acted fine, Jasmine knew her dad hadn't slept last night. He barely did, after what happened to mum.

"WHAT, do you think you're doing," Lief's father yelled, picking the boy up by his shoulders.

"JASMINE!" Her own dad shouted, looking more disappointed than angry, which she wished wasn't the case. She didn't like to show weakness, ever. So when he looked into her eyes, with that _why-are-you-doing-this? _Kind of expression, she didn't really know how to react. She stood up, and dusted herself off. The she pointed towards Lief, "It's all _his _fault!"

Lief gaped at her, his mouth, almost touching the ground, "w-wa what? ME!" He turned, he had his hand on his chest, then he moved it so he was pointing at her face, "YOU started all of this!"

Jamsine pushed him slightly backwards, "What _are _you talking about! Look what _you've _done." She gestured at the mess that was spread across the floor.

He was about to retaliate when his father cut in, "RIGHT! That's enough, Lief, pick it all up, I don't want to hear another word out of you." Lief began to protest but his father raised his hand. Lief sighed, dropped to his knees and began pushing the bits of cereal into a pile.

Jasmine watched smugly for a while until her dad pushed her forward and said, "You too. Don't think you're getting out of this one easily."

Jasmine glared at Lief who returned the gesture and then began collecting the cereal that had skidded underneath the shelves.

arggghh, jasmine thought, I hate him so much! Gahh, he's so annoying, what's he doing here anyway! I mean, obviously he's her shopping with his dad but, argh!

She looked up to see him bent over his pile of cereal bits, placing them in a plastic shopping bag. He grinned; _he_ thought he was nearly done tidying up. She'll change that, Jasmine thought. She shaped her mouth in an 'o' and blew at the pile. The cereal dispersed, spreading out all over again. He just gaped at her again, "hey!"

The dads were too busy splitting the money for the cereal box to notice. It was Jasmine's turn to grin, but her smile almost faltered. She could see it in his face.

This meant war.

**hey, hey, what did ya think? by the way, i didn't put this in, but in the second part, its been about 3 weeks. So yeah...**

**stay tuned to see what happens next, and thanks so much to anyone who reads this (:**

**bye**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everybody! Echobaby123 here again (: i hope your enjoying this story so far. Heres the second chapter! Please review, i love reviews :) teehee**

Jasmine needed time to think. She rushed out the door, yelled something to her dad and then left, walking briskly down her street. She turned the corner, crossed the street and arrived at her destination.

Playgrounds were kind of overrated for Jasmine now, she was turning eight soon and was getting almost too big for slides and jungle gyms, but this was an exception, she wasn't here to play. She was here to think. And she could only do that properly in her favourite spot:

the swing.

She trudged over; hands in the front pocket of her purple jumper, and sat down grasping the metal chains. She pushed off the ground lightly. She preferred to just hang their, rather than actually swing, letting her legs and feet dangle from the seat, just touching the ground.

She tried to avoid the park as much as possible, even though it was the one place where she could get a clear head. The reason why she detested even being here was because of _him_.

Lief, to be exact.

Or as she liked to call him: the enemy.

Ever since that day in the grocery store, they had become sworn enemies. And it wasn't her fault in the slightest on how it all happened. He was just so rude, and nosy and stuck up and arghhh! She didn't even want to think about him!

They'd met several times after the incident; but clashed is a better word to use. He just got on Jasmine's nerves so much, it was so hard for her not to just burst, just to crack, whenever he was around. Every meeting ended in disaster; her crying in the back seat, her dad, shouting at her from the front, telling her to stop acting like a baby and to man up, Lief being dragged away by his mother or father, Scowling and pulling faces.

It was a game, of who could stay on the top the longest. But it wasn't a fun game…

_Jasmine was really excited. Her dad, opened the door and they both stepped inside. The centre was huge. With long white walls decorated in paintings. Sculptures were scattered across the vast floor and modern couches formed a semicircle around a waiting area. She squealed with delight. Her dad was dropping her off at her first painting lesson! _

_She'd always wanted to learn how to paint, and when she had discovered that her school didn't have art as a subject last year, she was heart-broken. Luckily, her dad had found this place: The Sunset District's Modern Art centre in San Francisco. He led her towards the waiting room, where she saw other kids about her age sitting around the couches, eagerly waiting with their parents. She and her dad sat down and it wasn't long until a colourful-dressed lady with a short cropped hairdo came bursting through a door to the left, greeting the parents and ushering everybody to come inside. _

_They walked in and Jasmine was amazed at the sight. It was a huge white room with big windows on either side that let the sun stream in. Leafy pot plants sat on every windowsill and down the front was a wooden desk covered in paper and empty coffee mugs. Scattered across the room were easels with large pieces of paper clipped to the top. The lady, whose name was Maria, told the kids to grab an apron and then talked to the parents for a while. Jasmine, along with her other classmates, all scurried to the end of the classroom, where a bunch of stripy art aprons were hanging on hooks. A family came in late but Jasmine was too busy trying not to get trampled on to notice. The rest of the kids had vanished and were now standing at an easel they had chosen, wearing their aprons. _

_Yes, Jasmine thought, one apron left. She reached out to grab the apron when someone else shot out their hand. She turned towards the person and look and behold. It was the grocery store all over again. _

_"You."_

_"You."_

_They glared at each other. Then Lief just sighed and said, "whatever, you can have it," and walked off, picking an easel at the back. _

_Yes, Jasmine thought, that's the way it should be. She huffed, satisfied, then put the apron on and tied up the strings. She ran over to her dad to say goodbye and he kissed her on the cheek. _

_"be good." He said. _

_Too bad, she wasn't._

* * *

_Jasmine wasn't too excited about art anymore. In fact, with Lief here, she could consider it living hell. She remembered Lief had picked a spot near the back, so she scanned the front row. And then the next one, and then the next one. There weren't any spots left. She walked down the side of the classroom. Maria had disappeared somewhere, getting extra paintbrushes and paints. Jasmine reached the end row, to find an empty easel, right next Lief. She mentally groaned. Why me?_

_She raised her chin, and walked over to the easel, ignoring Lief who was icily staring at her. _

_It wasn't fair. Why was he here? Why did he like art? _

_"Now, everybody, today, were just going to paint. Nothing special, I'm not going to teach you anything just yet. For now, just paint anything you want. You've all got brushes and paint, so have fun! I'll be walking around to see what you're all doing!" _

_Sweet, Jasmine thought. She decided she was going to paint a flower. She began painting the centre, with an orangey-yellow. After she had finished drawing a perfect circle in the middle of the paper, she couldn't help but glance over to the left at Lief, who, holy moly, was painting the best sailing boat she'd ever seen. He had that same concentrated look on his face that Jasmine had seen when ha had been playing with that stick two years ago. He still looked the same since then, ugly and annoying, maybe a tiny bit taller, his hair looking like he never brushed it. She stared back at his picture. Great, Jasmine thought, another thing he can rub in her face. She looked down at her pallet, deciding on what colour to paint the petals of her flower. Purple or pink? How about both, she said to herself, and smudged the two colours onto her brush. She began painting the petals, starting from the edge of the middle of the flower, and flicking outwards, making them pointy. She smiled at her work, half done, half to go. She began to paint the left side petals. _

_In the middle, flick. In the middle, flick. She began enjoying herself, maybe this wasn't too bad after all. In the middle, flic-. Her hand slipped and flicked right to the edge of the paper, creating a really long petal, the paint continued, hurtling into the air and with a smack, landed on Lief's right cheek. He stiffened. Jasmine gasped and He turned around slowly, the paint dripping down onto his shirt. Jasmine winced. _

_"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" he shouted. _

_"it,it, it was an accident" she blurted out._

_Lief just rolled his eyes then glared at her, "oh, _sure_ it was! After I just gave _you_ the apron!"_

_Before she could say anything, Lief flicked his brush towards her and green paint splattered across chin and mouth. _

_"WHY YOU LITTLE-," Jasmine grabbed her paintbrush and Lief shielded his face before she could flick her brush. Instead, Jasmine walked up to him, his hands still covering his eyes and wiped her brush across his forehead. _

_"There," she said, "much better."_

_She looked smug at Lief's reaction until he ran over to her painting, paintbrush in the air. _

_She saw it in slow motion. Him, paintbrush in hand, slowly touching her drawing with the tip of the brush, then swiping the page diagonally, the pink and orange, blending in with the green, creating a filthy mud colour. _

_Her painting, ruined. _

_She held back a sob and tried not to cry. Her sadness turned to anger, and she began madly scribbling at his sail boat, until all you could see was a pinkie-purple mess. _

_"nooo!" he cried, "what have you done!" He ran over to his painting. She didn't bother with hers, she knew it was ruined. _

_He turned around, picked up a paint pot, walked over to Jasmine and turned it upside down on top of her head. She screamed. Lief laughed, until that is, he was covered in blue paint as well, Jasmine holding the empty cup victoriously in her hand. They began pushing each other, a mixture of blue and green stains on their clothes, still shouting and throwing paint. The other children stared at them, mouths open. _

_"I HATE YOU!"_

_"I HATE YOU MORE!"_

_Their bickering continued until Jasmine slipped on the paint on the floor and they both went tumbling to the ground. _

_"ENOUGH!" _

_Maria came bumbling up the aisle, holding her skirt so that it wouldn't get paint on it. She threw her hands into the air, mumbling and shouting in a high-pitched old lady voice. She looked around in aghast at the mess. Jasmine looked around too. What had they done? Correction, what had _Lief_ done?_

_"YOU TWO! OUT OF MY CLASSROOM! IMMEDIATLEY! GO OUTSIDE! THERE IS A TAP, WASH YOURSElVES OFF!"  
They trudged behind each other towards the door, mumbling about how it was the other's fault. Jasmine watched the ground as they exited. She was ashamed of herself, but what's more, she was ashamed at Lief! Why did he overreact! It was an accident! Boys are just so stupid. Or maybe it was just Lief._

_oompth. Jasmine hit into somebody, she looked up and cringed. It was her dad, coming to pick her up. He had a horrific look on his face, like he wanted to yell, but couldn't. In the end he pointed towards the exit, and then waited for her to wash up. _

_Jasmine followed Lief out. They reached the hose and then turned to each other._

_"What's your problem?"_

_"what's yours?" Jasmine replied then grabbed the hose, turned it on lightly and began getting the paint out of her hair._

_"Wait!" Lief said, Jasmine stopped, holding the hose away from her hair, "you look better like that." then he cracked up laughing._

_Jasmine growled, and turned to hose towards him, the water, going up his open mouth and nose. _

_Then she laughed. Lief was about to lunge at her when their dad's came round the corner._

_That night, she was sent to her room. Her dad shook his head as he closed her bedroom door. _

_She sat on her bed, all alone. It was all Lief's fault! she wanted to cry, but she didn't…_

That was her first and final art lesson.

After reliving that memory, Jasmine remembered the real reason she was down at the park in the first place. It was because she wanted revenge. She needed to think of a prank so big and horrible, that Lief would never ever bother her again.

Speaking of the devil, she thought. Jasmine watched as Lief trudged down the street. His hair was always messy, his figure was scrawny and she just hated him so much. He turned his ugly face towards the swing set, saw that she was there, dropped his shoulders and continued to walk towards the playground. The other side of the playground, thank _the_ lord.

Jasmine sighed in relief; she didn't want to talk to _that_ jerk, ever! and anyway, he couldn't be around her while she was forming a plan of vengeance on him.

She got to work, and after a good half an hour, had devised a prank that would keep Lief away forever.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey hey hey everybody!thanks to all the reviews! (: i'll reply to them while i can (: but at the end, so that the AN doesn't look to big XD anyhoo! please review annnnnddd welcome to the third chapter! **

Lief was excited. Josh and Ethan were in the same class as him at school this year and since then, they had quickly become best friends. Now they were almost inseparable and were coming over to Lief's house for a sleepover tonight. Josh had slept over at Lief's before but Ethan's mum was pretty strict and wouldn't let him have sleepovers until he was at least nine years old. Ethan had his ninth birthday a month ago, shortly after Joshes, and so he was now eligible (in his mother's opinion) to sleep over. This was going to be his first ever sleepover! Lief couldn't wait.

He looked over at the clock in anticipation: 4:25 it read, in five minutes, his friends would be here!

Lief jumped off the kitchen stool and grabbed a chocolate muffin from the counter; fresh from the oven and still warm. He took a bite and smiled. His mum had baked some muffins for his friends and him to snack on during their stay. It helped a bit that she was an awesome cook.

The doorbell rang.

"Lief, Josh is here!" he heard his mum call. Lief's head shot up and he ran towards the front door, opening it to reveal his friend josh struggling to carry a huge sleeping bag in his arms while his mum stood next to him holding his backpack.

Josh grinned, "Hey Lief."

Lief opened the door a bit wider, "Hey! Come on in."

Josh and his mum shuffled through the door, "Hi Mrs Steven!" Lief beamed at Josh's mum. She asked him how he was and then he took Josh's stuff and threw it on the living room couch. Josh's mum and Lief's chatted in the kitchen while the two boys played soccer outside in the garden. Lief was just about to kick the ball when he heard the doorbell ring for a second time.

"That'll be Ethan!" Lief said, running inside the house. Josh followed,

"First sleepover, eh?"

Lief turned towards him just as he reached the door. "I know right?"

He shook his head laughing then opened the door to greet Ethan.

Lief could see straight away that he was excited. He led Ethan and his mum into the kitchen where she joined the other mum's and started talking about god knows what mums talk about. The three boys went back into the garden and began playing soccer again.

Ethan was the first one to speak up. "Why don't we go down to the park!" he asked. "There's tons of room to play soccer there."

Lief groaned, he knew this was going to happen.

"Well, you see…" Lief began, rubbing the back of his neck.

Josh chimed in, "Lief doesn't like going to the park, because of, what's her name again, Jamie?"

"Jasmine." He said through gritted teeth.

Ethan's eyes widened, "Why? Who is she? What did she do?"

Josh laughed, "just a girl who pushes him around-,"

"Does not!" Lief protested.

"Well if you're _so_ sure she doesn't, then let's go down to the park!" Ethan said excitedly.

"Yeah, come to think of it, I've never actually met her." Josh said curiously.

Lief opened the back gate, "You lucky soul."

* * *

They walked across the road and there she was; sitting on her stupid swing, not even swinging on it. Why didn't she just sit on a bench and let other kids have a turn on it. Her hair was knotty as always, and her face screwed up into a permanent scowl. Lief saw her look up at him and his friends and got a sour taste in his mouth.

"Is that here," Josh called out, pointing to a skinny girl with brown hair and glasses sitting on top of the slide. Josh broke into a laugh.

"What? No, no." Lief shook his head, "she's other th-,"

"Is that her!" Ethan gestured to a petite girl with blonde hair, feeding the park pigeons in a white dress, "she could definitely beat you up!" This time, both Ethan and Josh laughed.

"1. That's not her," Lief began, "2. That girl could not beat me up and 3. _Jasmine _does _not_ push me around."

That only made them laugh harder.

"Well there aren't any other girls here?"

Lief pointed towards the swing set and his two friends turned their heads with an amused expression on their face. As soon as they saw her though, they became instantly silent.

They just stood there for a while, mouths wide open, a blush creeping up their faces. Lief was afraid a fly might fly into their mouths.

"Wow." Was all Ethan could make out.

"yeah…" Josh croaked.

Ethan stumbled on his words, "Dude, she looks-,"

"Like a total snob!" Lief finished. "I know!" His friends exchanged glances, "Let's just stay away from her, Ok? Anyway, the field is this way," and he began walking in the opposite direction.

The two boys gulped and began following Lief towards the grass. They began playing soccer on the field, but Lief's friends weren't really into it. They kept looking over their shoulders every few seconds, trying to see if Jasmine was still there.

Lief kicked the ball towards Ethan who tried to stop it but failed, the ball passing underneath his foot. Lief watched as Ethan gave an apologetic face and then clambered up the hill to retrieve the ball. That just left Lief even more confused. Ethan is awesome at soccer, he thought, he would never miss an easy kick like that.

The ball rolled across the grass onto the barky surface of the playground and then stopped right next to Jasmine's feet. She looked up from the book she was reading and stared at the soccer ball. It was Lief's, she thought, ew.

One of his friends ran up to the swing set and picked up the ball. Jasmine raised her eyebrows. He had light brown hair and hazel eyes, he grinned. "Sorry about that," Ethan said, Lief could hear him talking from the field, "I'm not very good at soccer."

What? Lief thought, not good at soccer! What was going on, Ethan was the best soccer player Lief knew, he was captain of the soccer team for crying out loud. He turned to ask Josh something like, "_are you hearing this?" _but he was gone too. He looked back up towards the swing set and saw that Josh was now standing next to Ethan, talking to _her_! He peered at Jasmine's face, was she, smiling?

What the hell was going on? He stomped up the hill and everyone turned towards him. Jasmine's expression changed into a glare and then she brought out her book again and began to read.

Lief ignored her and did a _you're-acting-really-weird _kind offace to his friends and then said, "What are you guys doing?"

His friends snapped out of where ever they were for a second, "talking to Jasmine," Josh answered quickly.

Lief looked at them like they had just said they were going to jump off a cliff.

"WHY?" he said simply, "Why do you want to talk to _her."_

Hearing this, Jasmine stood up, "_Excuse_ me!" she shrilled then slammed her book shut and walked up to Lief.

"Hey man, lay off her," Ethan said to Lief. Great, he thought, they didn't believe what a horrible person she was!

"_Oh no_," Lief shouted, "you guys don't get it!"

"Get what." Jasmine said, folding her arms, "blue boy!"

Ethan looked confused, "blue boy?"

"Wait!" Josh asked, "How did you know about that."

They turned to Lief.

He was silent.

Jasmine broke the silence, "because I was the one who poured it on him!"

Lief rolled his eyes.

"What? You did that! HA, that's hilarious! Lief was walking around school for a _week_ with blue paint all over him! She really does beat you up!" Josh exclaimed.

Lief went bright red but then turned back to Jasmine, "you seem to be forgetting who got covered in paint first Jasmine! Or should I say, green girl!"

Jasmine scrunched her hands into a fist, "YOU LITTLE BEAST! YOU RUIN EVERYTHING!" she stormed up to him and poked him on the chest, "because of you, I can't go to art class and now I can't even read a book!"

He narrowed his eyes, "as I do remember, you flicked paint on me first and as for right now, you don't have to be talking to me right now, you could be reading your book!"

Jasmine looked exasperated. Good, Lief thought, that'll teach her a lesson. "Your insufferable!" she exclaimed, "Your just too stubborn to admit it."

"Whoa." Josh said. Ethan nodded in agreement.

Lief picked up his ball, "yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that, come on guys, let's go home."

He walked across the road, not even bothering to look back to see if his friends were following him. ARGGHHH! He just wanted to scream! What was wrong with her! She's so, annoying and stubborn! He kicked a pebble on the road and it skidded across the asphalt onto the grass.

Jasmine turned around and sat back on the swing, that comment stung more than Lief fighting back; _he_ had the last word, the last say, and _she_ couldn't do anything about it.

Lief's friends caught up to him, Josh placed a hand on his shoulder, "hey, are you ok?"

Honestly, Lief didn't know. He just knew she hated that girl more than enything.

"Yeah," he replied, "it's just, she's so, so, annoying!" He threw his hands up in the air.

"In her defence, you were pretty mean to her!"

Lief turned around to his friends, "are you kidding me! She's the most cold-hearted person I've ever met!"

Ethan looked at his feet, "I thought she was pretty," he said. Lief's glanced at him strangely and his face got all flustered, "pretty nice, I mean!"

"Sure, that's _exactly_ what you meant," Josh laughed and nudged the red-faced boy with his shoulder, "and don't worry dude, I totally agree! Now, come on Lief, let's go eat those chocolate muffins!"

Lief felt a bit better, at least Josh was happy to drop the subject. But what were they trying to say about Jasmine? That she was, dare he say it, pretty? Ew! Definitely not. In fact, he wasn't too keen on a eating anymore, in the case that he'd feel sick. He imagined Jasmine's face one more time but stopped when he threw up a little in his mouth.

Nope, definitely not. They were talking about something else, I mean, they had eyes! He looked up to see Ethan and Josh, about the walk round the corner.

"Hey! Wait up!" he called. He ran up to his two best friends and put an arm around each of their shoulders, "trust me guys, these muffins taste soooo good!"

* * *

**Jasmine Horan**

**well, you can just check PM (: tty soon! **

**Emilyjade**

**awww, thanks for the compliment (: and for giving this story a chance!**

**Guest**

**Haha! sorry about it repeating! haha, i must've pasted it twice by accident! Its fixed now, but thanks for telling me, i wouldn't have noticed otherwise XD and heres chapter 3 for you, so enjoy :D**

**AH**

**Hey! aww, your reading charms too! thanks so much! Charms might be a while, it's the second last chapter and i don't want to stuff it up! I don't want you to wait to long though, so I'll try and get it up online faster! thanks for all your support! :D**

**Theolnextdoor**

**oh gosh, i didn't think i was that good an author! but thankyou so much, honeslty, just, wow, thanks so much! :D haha, im reading that back now and i sound like the biggest dork XD Thanks for reading charms too (: haha, im glad you enjoy both of them! And really good DQ fanfics, well, ive read them all! (i know, i have no life!) it depends what your into... ill just give you a few for different topics**

**i know most of them are jasminexlief so if you're looking for something like that then most of these should be like that (because i love them!) but here are a few of my favourites!: **

_**Dain sees the light**_** by RaineYlevol**

_**An unlikely Relationship (god, this one is sooo good, cause its the only one out their were its, what happened if the shadowlord never invaded, ya know, jasmine grew up as a normal girl, Lief grew up as a prince, that kind of thing) **_**by blerghy**

_**Deltora High **_**by Elven Tresses**

**_Camp Deltora_**** by homesweethomicide13 (seriously any DQ fanfic by this author is usually really good! this is one of my favs although ive noticed most of them are bardaxdoom)**

**but yeah, theirs a couple, they all involve liefxjasmine to an extent, infact im pretty sure that all of them are bu yeah (: hope that helped, thats a real variety too (:**

**so yeah, thanks for everything, and happy to help!**

* * *

**well, thats it (: see you guys next time**


	4. Chapter 4

**hey hey hey everybody! oh my gosh, thankyou soooo much to everybody who reviewed. Absolutely lovely! I'm so sorry to keep you waiting! i just couldn't be bothered to edit this, i actually wrote it last last sunday so im sorry its only out now XD but oh well! hope you guys enjoy this chapter, i think its pretty long...**

**(review replys at the end :) )**

It was autumn, Jasmine's favourite time of the year. She and her friends were walking home with her dad from the ice skating rink just round the block. She smiled, tonight had been awesome! It was her 10th birthday party and her dad had finally let her have a big party. All her closest friends were here, and they were sleeping over as well. The night could not get better. Her friends and her walked down the street in a big line, chatting and laughing.

When they turned down the next street Lisa stopped the current conversation by asking, "is this-,"

"Oh my god, it is!" Another girl jumped in.

"What! Are you serious?"

"Yeah, it's definitely one of these!"

The group squealed.

Jasmine raised an eyebrow and her friends just gaped at her.

"please don't tell you have no idea, WHAT we're talking about?" Charlotte said.

The others' eyes got bigger.

Jasmine began to get slightly scared, "um, no."

"WHAT!" they all screamed.

"woaha," Jasmine said, "can someone _please_ explain what's going on."

"well," Selena began, "somewhere down this street lives-,"

There was a rustling behind them. Jasmine turned to see who would've guessed it, Lief, standing on his driveway, a bag of trash hovering above a bin as if he was just about to throw it away before about 10 girls turned their attention on him.

"Um, hi," he said to the group of girls and then grinned sheepishly like, _what's-going-on. _Then Lief noticed Jasmine and his eyes narrowed. "_You," _he muttered under his breath.

Jasmine rolled her eyes, "common guys, lets leav-,"

"Lief? Right?" Stacey, Jasmine's best friend, stepped onto his driveway. The rest of her friends crowded behind her.

"Um, yeah, that's right," he said awkwardly.

"happy birthday, Jasmine" one of her friends whispered smugly. Ugh, what was she intending, that meeting Lief was a _good_ thing?

Lief looked at the girl, then glared at Jasmine and then closed the lid of the bin.

"um, yeah… It was nice meeting you! I've got to go, Bye!" He walked/ran back to his house opened the front door and went back inside.

Jasmine's friends sighed dreamily.

Why? She had no idea? Jasmine didn't even want to think about that butt-head. But she couldn't believe how oblivious she had been about Lief living around her area. Of course Lief lived around here somewhere! Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to walk to the park every day!

That just freaked her out more than ever; that _she_ and _him_, lived in the same neighbourhood! Their houses were literally a street away! Jasmine shivered, ew.

They arrived at her house. She wasn't really in the mood for a sleepover anymore but she went along with it anyway.

Lief had to ruin everything, she thought, _including_ her birthday.

She shook her head to get rid of any thought about him. I guess tonight wasn't too bad, she thought, they've had a lot worse…

_It was her 4__th__ grade soccer breakup party and to celebrate their winning season, they were going bowling. Her team had hired the school bus on a Friday afternoon so that straight after school they could hit the lanes. Their team coach, a university student named Lara was meeting them there. _

_Jasmine peered through the scratched window and watched as they pulled up into the bus lane, right outside the bowling centre. She'd never been bowling before and was really excited to give it a go. _

_The bus driver opened the doors, and her team eagerly clambered down the steps and out onto the pavement. _

_They stood on the edge of the drop-off zone and watched the bus drive off. Lara walked out of the glass sliding doors of the entrance and greeted them. She then led them inside towards a separate room where a party table was set up. They placed their bags on the floor and walked back out into the main area. _

_The centre had an 80s theme. Huge black records with red centres were decorated on all of the walls, neon lights spelled out things like: _Snack Bar, Toilets _and_ Rock n Roll baby. _The lights were dimmed, a huge disco ball gleamed in the centre of ceiling, igniting fluorescent paintings of pins and bowling balls. The top 20 hits played loudly on speakers and people bustled around in groups carrying rental bowling shoes. It was paradise. _

_After renting shoes and ordering what they wanted from the menu, chicken nuggets and chips with a small coke for Jasmine, they walked over to their lane which was somewhere in the middle of the 12 lanes. Jasmine heard _Hot n Cold _begin to play and looked around at her team. They so deserved this, after all the hard work they had put in to win the league. She noticed that a large group had entered the lane next to theirs. She peaked over her chair and saw a group of boys about their age, one wearing a bright blue party hat. She noticed him immediately, it was one of Lief's friends, the one with blonde hair. His name sounded something like Josh, yeah! she thought, that's it! Josh. _

_Her face fell, if he was there then... she found him, kneeling on one leg, tying up his bowling shoes. A boy began telling him a joke and Lief cracked a smile. Jasmine gaped at him. Does he _stalk_ her or something? He looked up from his shoes and noticed her frowning at him. He walked over to the small barrier of chairs that divided the two lanes, "What are _you_ doing here!" he spat. _

_Jasmine scoffed and folded her arms, "I was about to ask _you_ the same question!" _

_Lief could almost feel the venom in her words. _

_Jasmine glared at him, while he looked away not even trying to disguise his distaste for the situation they were in. _

_Jasmine realized that she was taller than him now, by about three inches or so. If he wanted to talk to her, he had to look up, whereas she looked down on him. Jasmine liked that idea very much, another thing to the list of _things-Jasmine-does-that-makes-her-better-than-Lie f.

_The silence was interrupted by Josh who exclaimed, "Hey Lief- is that Jasmine? Jasmine, hi!" _

_Jasmine gave a small wave. _

_"What are you doing here!" he asked._

_"Um, my soccer team are here to celebrate winning our league," she replied. _

_Josh grinned, "Cool. We're all here for my birthday party, isn't that right Lief?" he nudged his friend who had been purposefully uninterested in the conversation. He was watching a music video on the big TV screen on the wall, "um, sure, whatever."_

_Josh turned back to Jasmine rubbing his hands, "so, seeming how we've both got about the same number of people, how 'bout we have a competition? Girls vs Boys?" _

_Gabby had somehow joined the conversation, along with everyone else in Jasmine's team, and squealed, "bring it on!"_

_So that's how it went. Girls vs Boys, the team with the most points at the end of the game, won. _

_The girls were off to a bad start. Carla bowled the ball and before it could reach halfway, it fell into the gutters. No points. Taylor hit down 3 pins, and so it went: A 5, another miss, 4, another 3. It was nearly the end of the round. The boys were doing great, nearly knocking down all the pins in every turn. The group all jumped up at once and the girls flicked their heads around to witness Josh walking away from his first strike. _

_Jasmine sighed. It was the last persons turn, her. She took a breath and picked up her bowling ball, a marbly green and white streaked one. She stuck her fingers into the holes and held the ball to her chest with the other hand. She looked straight down the lane where the 10 pins stood in a pyramid. She heard someone exhale beside her. It was Lief, holding a bright blue bowling ball._

_He noticed her and smiled. Then he stepped forwards and flung the ball down the aisle. It smashed the tip of the pyramid and an explosion of white pins flew into the air. Lief dusted his hands off and watched as the small screen above their heads flashed in bright red writing 'STRIKE!'_

_Lief, instead of taking his seat again, stood there with his arms crossed. Jasmine tilted her head like, _what's-your-problem _but he gestured for her to continue. _

_Right, she thought, she can do this. Well, for starters, she _had_ to do this, she wasn't going to let Lief beat her at anything! But she had never bowled before. She ran through her mind Lief's actions when he got the strike. He stood back, swung his arm, his left leg sweeping behind his right foot, then when his arm reached about knee height, he bent his knees and let go. Simple? Right?_

_Ok, she thought, here goes nothing, just aim for that first pin. _

_She swung her arm and let go of the ball. _

_Jasmine watched as it sped towards the front pin, faster than Lief's had. It smashed the pyramid, and every single pin fell down. She gleamed then turned towards Lief. "Ha!"_

_"Beginners Luck," he muttered._

_Jasmine began walking back towards her seat when Lucy pushed her back, "Jasmine! You got a _strike_, that means you get another go!"_

_Oh, she thought, so that's how it works. She turned back to the lane. Lief was waiting for his ball to come back for the second time. She turned her gaze towards the end of his lane. It was empty. Another perfect strike! She mentally screamed. What? How? _

_She picked up her ball, then stomped over towards the black line that indicated where you had to stand. _

_I'll just have to get another strike then, she said in her mind determinedly. And she did, miraculously. Jasmine could almost feel the joy bubbling up her body. _

_It was Lief's turn, he swung his hand back, then let go of the ball. Jasmine gaped. Another. Perfect. Strike. _

_This was insane, she thought as she grabbed her ball again. _

_She turned towards the two groups, Lief's friends and Jasmine's soccer team. Their eyes were all on them, watching the two with astonishment. _

_And this is how it went on, for 5 rounds. Perfect strikes each time, perfection fuelled by what could only be years of resentment. No one else had had a go since her first turn. Lief and Jasmine were so fuelled with anger that they didn't even notice their friends anymore. Somewhere along the lines, Jasmine had beaten the junior girls all time record and Lief, the boys. Had they cared though? No. _

_It came to the last round, Lief went first, "Ready to loose!" _

_Jasmine growled, "Oh get over yourself!" She replied, but she was getting worried, her palms were sweaty and her arm was beginning to hurt. What if she stuffed up this one? After all this effort am I just going to mess it up? Jasmine noticed Lief was about to say something._

_"Are you saying you're scared?" Lief stepped closer, holding the bowling ball under his arm. _

_"What? Never! You're the one who should be scared!" She said stepping towards him, grasping the ball on either side with her hands. _

_"_Get over yourself_!" Lief mimicked in a high-pitched voice. _

_"I DON'T sound like that."_

_"That's how you sound to me!" _

_Face to face now they began arguing, spitting insults rapidly. Their friends couldn't keep up with what they were saying. Occasionally there'd be an "ooh, that gotta hurt" or "burn!" but most of the time they just sat back, watching. _

_If her friends were trying to tell her so stop, Jasmine couldn't hear them. _

_"YOUR SUCH A JERK!" she yelled. _

_"YEAH, WELL YOU'RE A STUCK UP SNOB!"_

_"TAKE THAT BACK!"_

_"MAKE ME-OOOWWWWWW!"_

_Jasmine's bowling ball slipped out of her slippery hands and landed with a 'plonk' on Lief's foot. She squeezed her lips together and looked up at Lief's face. He winced, "OOOWWW?"_

_Jasmine scurried over to the ball that was now rolling away and scooped it up back into her hands. _

_"Lief, I'm so sorry!" she said, 'not really' She added in her mind. It was 100% an accident, but she was glad it happened. Completely and utterly glad. _

_"What's you problem?" Lief said as he hobbled over to the nearest seat. He put his foot up and touched it; he winced again but didn't cry. _

_"You!" she spat, then walked over towards her friends. Lara came back from where ever she had been, "common girlies! Foods here!" _

_The girls forgot all about what had happened earlier and ran back into the party room, chattering and laughing. Jasmine followed after them, just as she was about to enter the door she looked back and saw Lief tending to his foot. She felt a slight twinge of guiltiness but then shook her head. No! she thought, he deserved it. No one messes with Jasmine Grace…_

She smiled at that memory and then entered her house. Maybe she was in the mood for a party after all.

* * *

Stacie hugged a pillow and landed on the couch next to Jasmine with an _ooff_. Jasmine laughed and threw a cushion at her. She faked a scowl and then bursted into a giggle fit. Jasmine had gotten back into her sleepover mood.

Stacey's face turned serious, "_so_…"

Jasmine raised an eyebrow, "so…?"

"There's a party-,"

Jasmine groaned.

"_Jasmine_! Come on," Stacie threw her hands down at the pillow making a sudden slapping sound. Jasmine jumped.

"You're not getting out of this one. Let me say it clearly. You. Are. Going."

Jasmine flopped onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, "But Stace, I hate going to girl/boy parties. It's just stupid."

Stacey's face softened a little bit, "you won't know till you try?"

Jasmine remained silent.

"Come on," Stacey put on her best puppy dog face, "pllleasseeeeee..."

She sighed.

"fine!"

"Yes!" Stacey jumped up onto her feet, punching the air.

* * *

"Truth or dare!"

Jasmine was suddenly beginning to realize her reasons for not playing this game. Ten girls stared at her wide-eyed from a make-shift circle created upon sleeping bags, popcorn and disney DVD cases.

"Truth?" she said uncertainly.

The girls glanced at each other, a kind of code Jasmine didn't know or like.

Gabby squealed, "ok, ok," she put her palms together and breathed. "ok… tell us about…Lief!"

The girls nodding faces got closer towards Jasmine's.

'What's to tell?"

The girls had confused expressions on their faces, "well, you know, that you guys l-,"

"-oathe each other! Oh yeah," Jasmine said in her _time-for-some-Lief-bashing _voice, "but that's old news! Come on guys. I don't think you're playing this game properly."

The girls' mouths were gaping, but Jasmine began speaking again.

"Now come on, do I get to spin the bottle now! I do? Ok… here it goes- OOOOH, it looks like Sally's up next!"

"um, ok…" Sally said with a wide eyed expression.

"Truth or dare!" Jasmine said excitedly.

**Zozo180**

**haha, thanks (: yeah, Lief and Jasmine will refer ****_alot _****to things that happened in the past so hoepfully you'll enjoy that. thats why im doing this whole back story thing, its not really up to the real story yet XD thanks for reviewing!**

**JasmineHoran**

**haha, awww, another review! Your awesome PM buddy (:**

**Guest**

**I present to you, new chapter! (just scroll up) XD**

**thanks for the review!**

**Guest1**

**aww thanks, yes, people hating each other at the beginning of their relationships is my life source, literally! haha, i eat that stuff up XD**

**ANd i will keep it up! for you guys! thanks for reviewing! **

**right, thats it, have a great day my dear dear dear readers (: **


	5. Chapter 5

**yes, im sorry, extremely sorry! i know i havent updated in ages, but i was stuck and i didn't know what to write next! but its ok, i wrote another chapter! so please dont kill me XD anyway, reviews would be greatly appreciated (and help me write faster) and review replies are down at the bottom (:**

**thanks so much to everybody reading this annnnnnd enjoy!**

Lief was sitting on one of the school benches watching his friends play basketball. Lief wanted to join in on the fun, but alas, he looked down at his foot. The blue cast stuck out like sore thumb. Every so often someone, ok, he'd admit it: they were all girls, would come up to him and say something stupid (in a sweet as honey voice) such as that it matched the colour of his eyes or something like that. He'd mutter an awkward thanks and then watch as they'd walk away. The girls at his school were always like this? Why? He had no idea. Girls were weird like that. Thanks to his broken foot though, he couldn't use the normal excuse to get out of a conversation like that. The excuse being, "oh sorry, me and my friends are about to go and play [insert sport of choice here], maybe later?"

Now he watched in envy as Josh took a shot at the hoop, it swished through the net and he let out a whoop. Lief wiggled his toes, the only part of his foot not covered by the cast. It hurt a bit but he sucked it up. His poor foot. Why did it have to be broken? He was going to miss out on the next couple of basketball games because of it! It wasn't fair! But then again, she doesn't play fair. Ever.

Yep, that's right. Jasmine broke my foot.

Lief remembers every detail of the scenario that happened a week ago at Josh's party. The gleam in her eyes when he yelled out in pain. The smug look on her face when she picked the ball up off the floor. The way she just ran off without a word.

That whole, you can't hit a girl thing. Total rubbish. At least, according to Jasmine. If he had a chance (or if his foot hadn't been throbbing to death) he would've pushed her over on the hard bowling floor; then hoped that it had hurt.

She was meaner than anyone he'd ever met and had serious attitude problems, most of that attitude aimed directly at him. But what had he done wrong? Nothing. He just hated everything about her; her cocky attitude, her permanent scowl. She was ugly on the inside and the outside.

He sighed then felt for his crutches that were underneath the bench. Successfully retrieving them, he made his way over to his friends who were taking a break on the side of the court.

"ahh! Theirs my little soldier. Oh wait Lief! Watch out! There's a bowling ball behind you!" Josh teased, cracking a grin.

Lief waved him off, "oh, ha ha, very funny."

Ethan balanced the basketball ball on the tip of his fingers and began to spin it around.

"Are you guys excited for the game against the Dodgers" he asked, still concentrated on keeping the ball spinning.

Josh stared at him, "um, no. We're going to get smashed without Lief."

Lief looked around at his friends, "what? Come on guys! Be serious."

"Oh no Lief, don't you dare go all modest on us, you know you're our best player," Josh said, watching Lief as he gaped at him.

"What? No I'm not! You guys will do fine without me, in fact, you don't even need me!" Lief said, still shocked. Him? The best player in the team? Um, no.

So what if he got lucky a couple of times and got their team some points. That didn't mean he was the best player they had. There were still definitely better players than him, even Josh way better at basketball than Lief, these guys didn't know what they were talking about.

"Dude" Ethan began, "you can_not_ be serious! You're good at any sport you play Lief, come on! Don't even deny it! You're good at _anything_ you do!"

Lief was taken aback, jeez, was this really how his friends thought about him, I mean, he was just Lief. He wasn't some huge sports star or anything. He was just himself.

"Whatever guys," he began, "it-,"

"_Liiiefff, you're so good at sport, is it true you shot over 30 goals in the game last night" _Josh mimicked, ,clutching his hands to his heart. The other's joined in.

"_Oh no, what ever happened to your foot? I like the colour of your cast."_

_"ooohhh" Tom said, fluttering his eyes, "it matches your eyes perfectly!"_

Ethan Nodded, "_Yes, your totally right! It's the exact shade of blue!"_

Lief clutched his ears, "shutup!" he shouted as the boys burst into fits of laughter. Lief could feel the heat creeping up his cheeks.

"Hey Lief!"

Oh no. Lief knew that voice anywhere, the way it went all sweet and high-pitched when she was around him. He heard his friends groan and a whispered, "here we go again."

He turned around to find a girl with blonde streaky hair and hazelnut eyes. She was wearing a hatched skirt and a bright purple cardigan. Her cheeks were slightly flushed and she kept playing with the buttons of her jacket, but her eyes were looking directly at lief. From the corner of his vision, he saw his friends roll their eyes.

"um, hi Chelsea, whatcha doing?"

Her eyes were determined as she smiled, "I just wanted to say I'm so sorry about your foot. I was really looking forward to seeing you play at the game."

Please go away, he thought. And what girl watches sport?

"Um thanks…" he muttered, he didn't want to be mean to her, after all, it wasn't like she was a bad person or anything. Its just, she was sooo annoying, like she made it her mission to talk to him, every. Single. Day.

"It must of hurt really bad." She said, her eyebrows scrunched up like she was genuinely concerned for him, but in a weird way, like she was reading off a script.

"Um, yeah, it did for a bit, but once they put the cast on it stopped." He replied. God, someone help me.

His friends looked agitated, like they were itching to go off and continue playing their game, but they couldn't seem to do it.

"well, I'm glad you chose a blue one, it matches your eyes… Anyway, see you around Lief, bye!" She said then ran off, waving her hand behind her.

Lief's friends let out a sigh of relief.

"I thought she'd never leave," Josh exclaimed.

Lief was thinking of other things though. How did all these people know what colour his eyes were? Did they what? Examine his eyes every time he was in seeing distance of them. And who cared what colour his eyes were. He didn't even _know_ what colour his eyes were, until so many people started pointing it out? What was the big deal? This my friend, he thought, was a very important question.

"hey Lief, are you going to her party? You did get an invitation right?" Ethan broke his thoughts.

"Of course he got an invitation!" Tom exclaimed, replying for him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lief began whirling around, "and anyway, I don't think I want to. I mean, there'll be girls their too, and I don't think I could stand being around Chelsea for longer than 5 minutes."

"Here, here!" Josh said sarcastically, and the others nodded their heads in agreement.

Ethan suddenly got a very serious look on his face, as if he were about to tell them to stop being so mean, "No thank you!" he shouted and the boys burst out laughing again.

* * *

"hey Lief!"

Lief was out in the garden, playing his Nintendo.

"Yeah!" He called to his mum.

"Come here for a sec, sweetie!" he heard him say.

Lief dropped his DS instantly and yanked open the glass sliding door that entered into the kitchen/lounge area. He saw his mum crouched over his school bag that was slouched in the corner of the room, and walked over to her.

His mum was the best person ever. She never shouted at him no matter how angry she was (not that he'd ever do anything to anger her anyway) and always had the most comforting smiles. Her hugs, even though they were sometimes embarrassing, could calm down anyone. She always baked the best things too. Her biggest dream was to become a cook, though at the moment she was stuck in an office job that paid higher. She did everything for him and sometimes, Lief wished he could do _anything _to pay her back, to make her happy.

He noticed a pink card in her hand and groaned.

"Lief? Is this an invitation to Chelsea's party?"

Lief looked around, he knew what was coming, "Maybe?" he grinned sheepishly.

"I'll take that as a yes." She smiled.

"But mum!" Lief walked around the kitchen counter and sat on one of the bar stools, "I don't want to go. She's sooooo annoying!"

Sharn's eyes sparkled, "aw, come one Lief, you can't be rude and not go. It might be fun!" She said passing the dining table and opening the fridge.

"But you don't know Chelsea," Lief whined, "and anyway, they'll be girls there!" He made a face and stuck out his tongue

Sharn laughed, "what! This is outrageous! Girls! At the party! Never!"

"Mum!"

"I know, I know, ok, how about this, I'll make you a chocolate milkshake if, and only if, you agree on going to the party."

"Bribery!" Lief called out, but his stomach growled, his mum made the best milkshakes ever.

"Hey! It's your choice, honey." She said, taking out the milk and chocolate sauce. Lief stared at his mum for a while.

"fine!" he admitted defeat, "but their better be whipped cream."

He got up off his chair and began to walk away.

His mum rolled his eyes, "Boys and their food."

She watched as he ventured outside again, disappearing around the door. Lief's grinning face poked around it a second later, his tongue sticking out. Sharn's eyes crinkled around the edges as she smiled at him. Then his head vanished and she could hear the sound of Mario cart playing loudly from the garden.

* * *

**Kameo1**

**awww, thanks for reviewing more than once XD and i'm glad you like that line, i look back on it now and think, god, thats so corny, what was i thinking? but hey! if its funny then there you go (: thanks so much for reading this story too **

**Sofia Writer**

**Hey! aww, you've read charms too :D thanks so much, ecspecially for saying ive improved alot, that really is the best thing anyone can say to a writer (: and dont worry, another charms chapter is being written, im just taking my time so that its really good, seeming how its the second last chapter (: thanks again!**

**Jasminehoran**

**nawww! my faithful pm buddy! ahha, thanks for the review (:**

**Edelle**

**thanks so much for the review! and im glad u said that, because it is true! i think its because this meant war is based in the real world, so their aren't any really dramatic things that can happen, ya know with monsters and magic and stuff (haha, im pretty sure thats deltora quests slogan thingy like: Deltora is a land of monsters and magic, or something like that) yep, no thats definitley it XD anyway, thanks for reading BOTH of my stories, and dont worry, i will "keep it up" :) thanks again**

**Abigale**

**Hi! oh sorry, i didn't mean like at the end of the story, but at the end of the chapter at the bottom, so people dont have to scroll through them to get to the story. Sorry about that! **

**thanks so much for reviewing and hopefully you'll enjoy the rest of the chapters (if you read them) anyway, thanks for everything :D**

**Zozo180**

**oh my gosh, your message actually made my day. Legitimately made my day! I'm laughing now because i can't believe you'd be that excited! haha, oh my gosh, thank you thank you thank you! thank you sooooooooo much! to you and your dad! ok, question answering time! ok, the first one. Lief and Jasmine have to hate each other! its called chemistry! and anyway, if they werent distracted all the time by saving deltora and saved by barda telling them to shut up, they probably would've hated each other at the start of the books. Even at the beginning of the series, they both fought all the time anyway! so yes, that, and also, i love it when people hate each other at the start! it makes the most interesting plotlines! **

**anyhoo, your second question, i dont understand. Do you mean why is ****_this meant war_**** about lief and Jasmine and not another pairing, because if thats what you meant, the Of COURSE IT HAS TO BE LIEF AND JASMINE! hhahaha, i mean, their awesome! and their arent that many interesting pairings! lik, lief and jasmine were it, and i guess theirs lindal and barda, but you dont actually watch their relationship grow in the book, and also, lindal just creeps me out XD so yeah, lasmine 4 life!**

**if you meant, why does lief and jasmine hate each other and not another two people then its because everyone else is pretty chilled, ya know, going with the flow and stuff, i mean, during the quest, lief and jasmine practically told barda what to do, and he was all like, ok! so yeah, anyway, the reason they fight is cause their both so darn stubborn (shame on you, lief and jasmine) nah, thats just what makes them really cute. haha, anyway, hopefully i answered all your questions and wow, this is really long XD sorry bout that (: anyway, thanks again (: and im glad you enjoy it :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**i know, i know, a long wait for all of you, im so terribly sorry, i guess your all getting sick of my pathetic sorrys about not updating in like a month. But i just, im just, so, darn, lazy! there! i said it! haha XD BUT I HAVE REALLY IMPORTANT NEWS DOWN BELOW!**

**HOLY FUDGE, I ONLY JUST REALIZED THIS AS I AM WRITING THIS AN BUT OH MY GOSH, GUYS IM SO SORRY, BUT WE HAVE TO HAND BACK OUR LAPTOPS FOR SCHOOL, AND WE ONLY GET NEW ONES NEXT YEAR WHEN SCHOOL BEGINS, SO I DONT KNOW IF I CAN UPDATE ANYMORE, LET ALONE WRITE CHAPTERS, HOLY FUDGE, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO! I HAVE TWO MORE DAYS WITH MY LAPTOP, AND THEN THATS IT, WTH AM I GOING TO DO. **

**sorry to burden you guys with that, but i seriously don't know what im going to do. So yeah, my updates over the holidays will probs be really infrequent, like, more than now :( which sucks, because i started writing charms in the summer holidays last year ): awwww, wow, its almost been a year with you guys. Well, for the readers who followed charms. Btw, about charms, another chapter is being edited like every weekend, but i seriously doubt it'd be ready in two days. Im so sorry for this. I can use my home computer but i rarely get to use it. **

**Anyway, thats enough of all that depressing stuff. I love fanfiction and i will try to get online with every chance i get. Now, review replys are at the bottom. Stay cheery, my dear readers :D and dont forget to review!**

Jasmine was on her way to Stacie's house. She had promised her friend that she would go to a party, and just to Jasmine's luck, Stacie's next door neighbour was hosting one. Great, Just, great.

Plainly, Jasmine thought girl-boy parties were stupid. Um, how old were they? That's right folks, 10 years old! She sighed, boys were boring; all they talked about were sports and video games. She trudged up Stacie's driveway while her dad followed quietly behind. She reached the front door and rang the doorbell. After a moment, she heard the tinkering of locks and then Stacie was opening the front door. Jasmine stifled a shout as Stacie yanked her inside and shut the door squealing.

"THANKS Mr Grace!" Stacie called out while dragging Jasmine over to the kitchen. She quickly peeked through the window and saw her dad chuckle and walk back towards the car.

Jasmine faced her friend and jumped. Stacie was staring at her with a very, creepy smile.

She raised an eyebrow, "What? Wait! Do I want to know?"

Stacie folded her arms, "You, My friend, are NOT wearing that to the party."

Jasmine looked down at her clothes: purple shorts and a green t-shirt with a tiger on it. She crossed her arms over her chest, "I like tigers!"

"yes," Stacie said soothingly, "but you need to wear something more… appropriate for a party!"

Jasmine cringed when she thought about the pink sequined dresses with silk ribbons that other girls her age liked to wear. Polar opposites when compared to what she was wearing now.

Jasmine shuddered. She wasn't a particular fan of the colour pink _or_ dresses that were hard to run in.

It was all just too… fake? She liked the clothes she was wearing now because they were comfortable; she didn't really care what people thought about them.

"No. I want to wear these!" She declared, stomping her foot.

By the tone of Jasmine's voice, Stacie knew she was getting fed up with this topic so she shut up. But it wouldn't be the end of this discussion…

* * *

"Arghh, it's so short!"

Jasmine tugged at the denim skirt she was wearing as they walked across the road. It was thoughtfully forced upon her by the one and only Stacie. Well the jokes on her, Jasmine thought, and tugged her bag containing her purple shorts farther up her shoulder.

They arrived at the party, and Jasmine's jaw dropped slightly. Decorated all over the front of the house were streamers, balloons and a large glittery sign stuck to the double garage that said: HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELSEA!

"Wow."

"Agreed." Stacie walked up to the front door, through a couple of kids playing out on the front lawn.

Jasmine followed her, passing some boys playing soccer out on the grass and two smaller girls throwing hula hoops around. She watched them as they all slowly stopped what they were doing to stare at her. Full on, stalkishly, watching her. Jasmine looked at them strangely and then noticed Stacie was already at the front door. She hurried over to her feeling slightly wierded out, not checking to glance behind.

A brown haired girl opened the door and ushered them inside. She told them were the toilet was where to put Chelsea's present and where the food table was. Then with one last smile, the brunette took off, leaving the two girls alone in the corridor.

"Well then, let's go and find Chelsea!" Stacie said, obviously pleased with herself.

* * *

"Guys, this is my next door neighbour, Stacie!"

Chelsea had a pretty-looking, smooth face with blonde wispy hair. She was grinning, holding out her arms to Stacie who happily hugged her.

"Oh, and this is my friend, Jasmine." Stacie gestured towards her.

The group of boys and girls smiled at Jasmine, a little too creepily.

"I love your hair!" One of the girls' bursted out.

"oh, um, thanks. I like your shirt." Jasmine replied. Maybe this wasn't going to be _that_ bad.

They spent the next half an hour joking and laughing, listening to the music and eating chips from the food table. It was all going great and Jasmine was actually having tons of fun until…

"Is _Lief_ here yet?"

Jasmine crunched her plastic cup in her fist. Luckily, she had drunk most of the fanta but the orange liquid still went all over her hands.

She clenched her teeth, "Lief. Delta?"

Chelsea's smile widened, "the one and only!" Darn it. That's just great, what of the odds would _he_ be doing at this girl's party.

The other girls sighed dreamily. The boys just rolled their eyes.

"He said he'd be late to the party because he's helping his mum, what's her name again?"

"Anna. Her name's Anna." Jasmine cut in. Then she blinked. Since when did she know that?

"Right…" Chelsea looked at her oddly and then continued, "he's helping out with her sweet shop. Ya know? 'Anna's Candy Corner'. Down the block? Isn't he so sweet!" Chelsea laughed, "pun intended. But he should be arriving any second now." She craned her neck to read the kitchen clock.

While everyone was distracted with looking for Lief, Jasmine grabbed Stacie's wrist and dragged her slightly away from the rest of the group. She stood very close to her friend so that no one else could hear.

"We _have_ to get out of here," she whispered through clenched teeth.

She saw Stacie's face drop, "But why!"

Jasmine glared at her. "You _so_ _know_ why! I'm not going to say it again, just… please, can we go?"

"He's not that bad Jasmine." Stacie cocked her head to one side. Jasmine scoffed.

"Yeah, _sure_, he's a nice guy or whatever, now, lets _leave_!" She picked up her bag and strode past the large amount of kids scattered all over Chelsea's house. She was just about to reach the foyer when her skirt got caught on something. She looked down to see the fabric hooked onto a metal swirl of a decorative table. Jasmine rolled her eyes. She pulled at the fabric but it wouldn't budge. She sighed and with both hands, yanked at the skirt as hard as possible. It came lose but she was thrown back during the process. She let out a yell as she hit someone and they both tumbled to the ground.

Jasmine shook her head and looked down at her sprawled legs, the skirt with a huge rip torn at the bottom. Stacie was going to kill her.

Everyone was looking at her now, the knocked over table and the person who had just asked, "Hey, are you okay?" in a very familiar voice.

He bent down slightly and stuck out his hand to the girl who had just fallen over. The black-haired girl rose her head towards him.

"YOU!" They said in unison and Jasmine scrambled up. Lief looked shocked for a second before he recomposed himself and retracted his hand. Jasmine readjusted her damaged clothing and silently thanked the gods that the rip was low on the skirt. Then she glared daggers at Lief.

"How do _you_ know Chelsea? And why are you at _her_ party!" He spat.

Jasmine looked around her, at the people staring wide eyed at her, no longer dancing to the music or eating from the food table, the tipped over table lying on its side, Chelsea standing in the doorway, hands on hips, looking very confused, Stacie holding her own bag, looking terribly lost, and worst of all, Lief. In a sky-blue t-shirt, his brightly coloured arm cast sticking out from behind his back, his hands clenched in fists, his face, screwed up with anger. She couldn't take all this. All this pressure and tension. Most of all, she couldn't take _him_.

"Chelsea's my friend's next door neighbour" Jasmine explained, the tears already prickling at the back of her eyes, "and as a matter of fact, I was just leaving."

She smiled the cheesiest, fakest smile she could pull off and then bashed past him, knocking her shoulder against his with all the strength she could muster. She burst through the front door and stormed across the street, back towards Stacie's house. She wanted to burst into sobs, right here, right now. But she didn't. Tears didn't make anything better, they didn't fix anything. So she took a shaky breath and bottled it all up. Blinking her eyes rapidly until the water vanished. Then she swiped hastily at her burning cheeks and turned around to see Stacie crossing the road after her.

"Hey? Are you alright?" She said softly, and then hugged her. They embraced for a while until Jasmine's heart beat returned to normal.

"I'm sorry I ruined your skirt." Jasmine she said stepping away from her friend.

Stacie waved her off, "No worries. It was _sooo_ last season, anyway."

Jasmine giggled and Stacie hooked her arm through Jasmine's, "Don't let Lief get you down. I know he annoys you, but don't let him ruin your day! Come on, how about we go and do something at my house. Your dad picks you up in about an hour anyway!"

Jasmine nodded and let Stacie drag her to her house, where they ended up playing twister. Soon they were laughing their butts off, lying on top of each other after an epic fail of position holding. By the time her dad came to pick her up, Jasmine had forgotten everything about Lief and what had happened early. As she got into the car, Jasmine turned back to wave one last time at her best friend. Stacie stood at the top of her driveway waving hysterically with both arms, a huge goofy grin plastered on her face. It was good to have a friend as great as Stacie.

* * *

**JasmineHoran**

**you, my dear, are amazing :D**

**mw**

**aww, thanks, ta muchly (thats from a book we had to read for school called ****_Maestro, _****i did not like it, but this one character kept on saying "Ta Muchly" and what can i say, it caught on) I'll try to make more good chapters :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**I know, i know, please dont kill me. Its been forever, but i'll make it up to you by giving you the longest chapter so far in this story. So yeah, theres that :D**

**also, i think im just gonna have a whole chapter dedicated to review replies, so yeah, that will be up soon. And! CHARMS. i kam so sorry guys, i know its been ages since i updated charms, but i cant seem to write it properly. Like, these chapters are really important and i want them to be good, but i cant write them, good? but it will get their eventually and then, you will have the second last chapter (: **

**Ohh, ooh, also, part ONE of this meant war, is nearly at its end, i think it has like, 3 chapters more to go. And then we move onto PART 2 and PART 3**

**so yeah, im excited!**

**anyway, please review because it makes me really happy and it makes me update faster, and thnakyou so much to everyone who still continues to read this story, YOUR AWSEOME!**

**but for now, enjoy...**

It was halfway through the year and Jasmine was feeling up beat. This was the time when athletics came into season. And she loved athletics.

Jasmine loved testing herself, pushing her boundaries, always trying to beat her personal bests. She loved the thrill of anxiety as she raced up to the beam, that leap of hope when she threw herself over it, and that satisfying accomplishment of clearing the landing.

Oh sure, she liked the other events too, track? or field? She wasn't picky. But high jump. Oh, man. That stuff was her chiz.

She wasn't the star player in the athletics team, at least, she didn't think she was, but she was a pretty good all rounder; probably due to being taller than most girls in her grade. What can she say, puberty was a bi-

"Jasmine!"

She swivelled round to face Marilyn, a pale, fair-skinned girl with a petite figure and a curtain of chestnut-coloured hair. She was the sweetest, most collected person Jasmine knew. But don't be fooled. That girl could throw a javelin like it was no mans business.

"So," she said sweetly, showing off her small innocent smile, "are you ready for the carnival next Saturday."

Marilyn was referring to the athletics carnival that was happening during school on Thursday (it was currently a Tuesday afternoon) where they competed against the other schools in the district. Jasmine remained silent, and stared down at her green sport shoes.

Now you might be wondering, if Jasmine's in the track _and_ field teams for athletics, then obviously she would be going to the carnival. But that _wasn't_ the case.

Because Jasmine refused to go to it every year.

"Jasmine!" Marylin cried out, making her jump. Here it comes she thought. "You have to come this year. It's not faiiirrrr."

Jasmine remained silent.

"Come on! We _need_ you. For like, _every_ event!"

Resist. Puppy dog. Eyes. Jasmine mentally told herself.

"Marilyn! You know you can't make me," Avoid. Her. God forsaking. Eyes. "And anyway, you guys _don't_ need me, just like you've never needed me before!" Jasmine replied. Success!

Marilyn lost the sweet and innocent act real quick. Uh oh Jasmine thought. Too far?

"look here missy!" She stated, stabbing Jasmine's chest with her finger, her voice like ice, "You've broken every record that this school owns in our age group, you can beat everyone in this squad in every. single. activity. You are seriously amazing at any sporting activity you put your mind to. So cut the crap," she hissed "we have to win this carnival. And your coming, and competing, if I have to drag you their _myself_."

Jasmine stood spell bound. How do you reply to _that_?

Tight lipped, she replied.

"Ok"

It was a seriously beautiful day. The sky was a pale blue, dotted with the occasional cloud and a light breeze blew through the surrounding fields. The sun beat down on Jasmine's tanned skin and she walked comfortably over to her gathering teammates.

It was horrible.

Okay, a little back story-ing is in need to explain exactly why Jasmine hated athletic carnivals.

_It was three years back. In grade 3. The first year that Jasmine could join the athletics team. And boy, was she excited. She remembered that day as clearly as watching a movie in her head. The way she jumped out of her mum's car, hurriedly swinging her bag onto her back, pushing her arms through the straps. Tryouts were at lunchtime and as quickly as the day had started, Jasmine found herself heading towards the sports fields with her friends. _

_Let's just skip the unnecessary details and just say that Jasmine definitely got into the team. By a landslide. _

_*fastforward to the day of Jasmine's very first carnival*_

_Jasmine remembered landing that first jump. That same feeling that she still gets, filling up her mind, her body, her soul. The feeling of invincibility. As soon as her feet hit the giant blue mattress, cheers erupted all around her. She watched in awe at the kaleidoscope of people, all rooting for her. It was... crazy._

_And so it continued. Jasmine proceeded to clear every height, until it was just her and another girl. They raised the bar another centimetre. And another. Higher and higher it went, just like the anticipation. It was the other girls turn and she went and hit the pole, tumbling to the ground. That meant that Jasmine, if she cleared this last height, could win. She just had to focus. Jasmine stood at the starting cone, shaken with nerves, thinking of all the horrible places that metal pole could hit her. Then her name was called and she found herself charging up towards the bar. Here it comes; she thought and threw her body up into the air. _

_It was all over in a second and she found herself in the centre of the lime light, a crowd that had suddenly grown immensely was shouting and cheering her on. She looked around bewildered at all these people. And suddenly felt insecure. All she had done was jump over a metal bar. Her friends came rushing out to hug her but she still stood paralysed. Soon they were all squealing in her ear, yelling something about winning the carnival because of her. Jasmine plastered a fake smile on her face, even posed for a couple of photos. When really, deep down. She felt sick. Why was all this attention on her? It felt, odd. Off. Just... wrong. She couldn't place her finger on it, but it was like she didn't want to be singled out from everybody else. She didn't want to be in the spotlight. _

...

And that was that. No more carnivals for Jasmine. Athletics was for fun. And only that. until now.

She peered around at the familiar setting, not much had changed in 3 years. Their coach went over his usual speech consisting of techniques, pep talks and the good old "remember, winning isn't everything" card. Jasmine wasn't really listening. She was peering at the other middle-school's tents that were pitched up around the communal fields. She couldn't help feeling a bit sad looking at all these schools, this was her last year in middle-school, and then, the dreaded high school. But she shouldn't focus on these things right now; she still had a year to go anyway. What she needed to do was concentrate on the task at hand: faking her events.

* * *

"Oops!" Jasmine said, her hand flying to her mouth. She. Jasmine. Suppose master of all track and field events. Just threw the discus out of the sector. For the third time.

"Disqualified." The discus guy said in a robotic voice. What a shame.

Jasmine hummed as she stepped back into the crowd of girls that were lining up for their turn, ignoring the whispers spreading through the crowd like wild fire.

"_How did she even get into the team."_Pah-lease.

_"What a loser."_Ouch.

_"Can't even throw a discus."Oh _yeah, you watch me throw one at your face.

If only they knew.

* * *

Oh shoot, it was Marilyn. Jasmine quickly side-stepped behind a group of chatting officials. She was dead meat.

She glanced above one of the teacher's heads, only to come face to face with Marilyn's icy glare. Uh oh. She smiled sheepishly.

"Jasmine, you've left me no choice." Marilyn said harshly and grabbed her by the arm. With Jasmine in tow, she stormed up to the results board. All Jasmine could think when Marilyn let her go, was _OW! _And began to rub her sore wrist.

"Jasmine, read. The board."

She sighed and brought her head up to face the results. Each event for each grade had its own category, with the ranking of every competitor below it. She found the grade 5 girls section and already knew what to look for. Scanning the bottom of each list, she saw her name, sticking out like a blemish. So what if she hoaxed all the events she had been in. She said she'd come to carnival, she didn't say she was going to participate.

"I don't see anything wron-."

"I didn't want to do this to you Jasmine. I really didn't," began Marilyn, shaking her head.

"Wait, wha-."

"But I have to," she said, stomping her foot on the ground, "not just for the team, or our school, but for _you_ Jasmine."

Jasmine raised an eyebrow. "I don't understan-."

"You will, trust me Jasmine, you will. And I'm not doing this to you on purpose, I swear, I'm doing this so that you live up to your potential. So that you do to the best of your abilities, because you _can_ beat all of these girls," she gestured to the surrounding tents, "and I think, that it would be a shame if you wasted your talent."

"I'm not going to try at any of these events." Jasmine interjected a little coldly.

"Oh, I beg to differ."

"Nothing you say is going to change my mind."

Marilyn smacked the board with her finger.

"Not even this"

_Under 11s Boys Discus_

_1__st__ pl Lief Delta _

She stepped closer, to make sure her 20/20 vision wasn't playing with her. Nope, she confirmed, he was really here. And from quickly scanning the rest of the board, he was pretty good at both track and field too.

"First place in every event," Marilyn sated, "whaddya say Jasmine? Are you done with the games. Are you ready to kick some butt?"

Jasmine stared at that name. The guy who had tormented her for the past four years in every possible situation that he could. She clenched her fists. He was going down. Hard.

* * *

"Holy!"...Potato?

"No way!" Yes way.

"You go girl!" That was Marilyn.

Jasmine flicked her pony tail and turned away grinning. 18 metres baby!

She passed the rest of the competitors; astonished-deer-in-a-flood-light plastered all over their snooty faces. They were all wondering the same thing: when did the girl who missed the sand in long jump, get so good? Was it all just an act?

"I have an announcement," began the javelin instructor, "It seems not only have you broken the under 11's girls Javelin record, but also the boy's."

Jasmine saw a lot of surprised and even some shocked faces and she began to feel _that_ feeling again. The spotlight that was slowly materializing in front of her eyes but she managed to shut it out for a while. What the instructor had said was sweet, sweet music to her ears: beating the boys record was exactly what she wanted, because technically she was beating Lief at the same time. Killing two birds with one stone as her mother used to say. A cold shadow crossed her mind, as she thought about her mother, but she pushed it aside. She drew her shoulders back and placed her hands on her hips in triumph, gladly accepting the shouts and praise from the people around her.

Jasmine's moment was cut-short by a sudden eruption of noise to the left. Whipping her head to face the impeccably loud cheering, roaring and screaming, Jasmine saw Lief standing in a crowd of excited people. She gasped as the javelin trainer/coach person finished measuring his throw, the tip of the spear sticking out of the ground, its point, dug way into the earth.

"19 metres!"

WHAT! NO! Jasmine's ears nearly went deaf by the second surge of screaming and congratulating. The crowd (mostly girls their age, might she just add) were swarming around him, hugging and patting him on the back. But Jasmine was more concerned about what was happening in the centre of everything: Lief himself, looking completely and utterly lost. He stood their awkwardly being hustled and pushed by others, a shaky smile on his face. He glanced over to her and their eyes locked. For a moment Jasmine thought she saw something in his eyes besides hate and resentment and then he threw his head back in the cockiest way imaginable and gave her an extra smug smile. She nearly strangled him.

Standing in the middle of a now empty Javelin line, she surged off towards the side of the field to punch something.

* * *

She could do anything Lief could do, Jasmine reminded herself and jogged up to the starting line. 200 metres was one of her specialities.

Seeming how the running tracks were side by side in this particular area, they raced the boys and girls sprints at the same time. Probably to save an extra hour or so. Jasmine was extremely pleased with that; she could actually race Lief for _real_.

In past events, as soon as soon as Lief and Jasmine were finished (without even waiting to collect their ribbons), they would race off to find each other (somehow they always knew were the other was), and yell out their scores/times. It was a tiring and tedious system but it was worth it. Once glaring and sarcastic comments were made to the loser and vise versa, they would run back to their next event either feeling extremely great or extremely pissed.

So far, Lief had beaten her in shot put, 100 metres, the 3k run and hurdles while Jasmine had won the triple jump, 400 and 800 metres and 1.5k run. Including javelin, Lief had bagged one more event than her. But that was about to change.

She got into her starting position and then glanced sideways to find Lief. He was looking at her too, that ever enduring scowl on his face. Bleh! I'm sorry, but he was just to revolting too look at, Jasmine thought. Now focus on the race! Her conscious reminded her.

She gripped the ground with her hands, pulling out wisps of green grass. This was it. Her chance to beat Lief at something.

She heard the gun shot and suddenly her body was sprinting forward. The world was a blur as she dashed past the other girls, a black streak flashing in the corner of her vision. This was it, this was it, her heart seemed to pound. Her feet were thrashing below her, and all she could do was try to not get lost in the moment. She felt her bones aching, a stitch beginning to form, but she pushed herself just that extra bit further.

She flew over the finish line.

Jasmine felt like she was about to throw up, and bent over for a second, holding her knees to establish which way was up and which way was down. Luckily for her, she recovered quickly and was soon up on her feet again. She scanned the scene in front of her. Boys and girls stood scattered around, catching their breath.

Lief was standing around a bunch of guys who were congratulating him, a 1st prize ribbon hiding behind his back.

She pushed past the crowd of people, trying to reach him. A 1st place ribbon was placed into her hand and she absentmindedly received it, still trying to get to Lief.

She tapped one of the guy's backs and he turned around to see Jasmine with her hands on her hips. "Excuse me."

The boy's face flushed and he rubbed the back of his neck, "oh, um... sorry," he mumbled.

Jasmine stepped forward, "time?" Lief looked up and frowned.

"You first," he spat.

Jasmine's face went from persistent to pissed off. "What?! I asked you first!"

"Well then say it on three. together." Lief suggested. Jasmine rolled her eyes. He'll take that as a yes.

"One?" he started.

"two..." Jasmine said.

"THREE!"

"34!" they both screamed.

"point 6..." Lief added then slowly frowed.

"Ha!" Jasmine shouted, "I won!"

"We're still tied now," Lief interjected quickly.

"Doesn't matter. I Won."

"And anyway, we only have one last event, so I guess this is the decider!" Lief stated. Then he walked away, turning around just before he disappeared into the crowd. He flashed that ever so annoying lopsided grin of his. "I hope you're good at high jump."

Jasmine was glaring at his silhouette as it made its ways through the crowd. She wanted to pull her hair out; he was that irritating. But she knew it would soon all be worth it. Him being in a mile radius of her, that is, because she knew she could win at high jump. Hands down.

* * *

Jasmine lay on her back, the mat hot against her skin. The sky was so pretty today. It was a mosaic of different tiled whites and blues. The sun wasn't too hot or too shady either. It was perfect, unlike what had just happened. She cringed at the memory, at that daydream...

She remembered running up towards the bar, the wind blowing her hair back. The cheering of the crowd echoing around her. She approached the bar and felt her heart beat slow. She was in that transition period; where she switched footing and leaped into the air. It all happened too quickly, the slight delay of movement, her stumbling feet... the rest was a blur. But it was ok, it didn't happen, her subconscious had made it up. That's why she was lying down now, because she had been dreaming. Right? She would never fail at high jump because it was like second-nature to her. It was her passion, it was too easy to mess up in, she thought. In the background she could hear voices, and boy, they were annoying. Could they just shut up?, I'm _trying_ to focus on the beautiful clouds, She thought. Ahhh, her mind drifted, pretty...

"Jasmine!"

Jasmine shot up, "what?!" she said, then immediately clutched her forehead. It was throbbing in pain. What the hell? Her hands felt around her until her fingers touched something cold, and metallic. The bar? NO! Never... that didn't happen to her.

A red faced lady was suddenly in front of her looking very flustered. "Do you feel dizzy sweetie? No dilating pupils... can you cross your eyes?"

Jasmine couldn't piece together what was going on but she did what she was told, she wasn't dizzy but... "It hurts."

The lady smiled, "yeah honey, it will, now come on and get some ice with me."

Jasmine took her hand like she was 6 years old again and let her lead her towards the first aide tent.

* * *

Jasmine sat there in the tent while the rest of the events finished up, an ice pack held up to her head. This sucked. She could hear the hustle and bustle of friends talking and laughing, while she was stuck in here. She looked down at her hands, feeling lost and annoyed. The sound of movement caused her to look up. She saw a flash of black near the entrance, but it disappeared so quickly that she didn't know if it had actually been there or whether it was a hallucination caused by her injury. She couldn't believe she had tripped and hit her head on the bar. Talk about embarrassing. And what happened to Lief? Does this mean he won? That he beat her? Was that even possible?

Oh well, she thought and began to hear the sound of laughing, it would have to be settled later. She propped her foot up as the other girls and Marilyn entered the tent.

Pushing all thoughts of Lief behind she smiled.

"Hey guys."


End file.
